The Battle lost within....!!!!

Just confused from where & how to start to explain why India played such a poor & heart breaking cricket in Australia.. The cricket lovers thought the young & enthusiastic team India would turn around the fortunes in  T-20, &  One day series  after  veterans failed to show their colors in the test series. We had all the required material to make this series remarkable & intriguing. Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Dhoni,  the high profile & attacking batsmen, Kohli, Raina, Rohit  Sharma the exciting future prospects of Team India, R. Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Irfan Pathan the  one day all-rounder,  Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar the swing bowlers, & the real quick  Umesh  yadav … What else captain would ask for to write down the success story.  Yes two more things which are more important than the individual record, caliber, & greatness those are commitment and team spirit which were missing.  The way we were getting thrashed in the test series the senior members & the core players of the team should definitely have shown some maturity leading to limited over cricket. Players need to understand that they are representing Team India & not the franchisee owned team where all this drama can be publicized to make the event more interesting. 

It is said that when Going gets tough, tough gets going. Sehwag not understanding the team’s need, Gambhir giving needless comment in the after match presentation , Dhoni termed as man with less emotions until the series started doubting his own player’s  abilities in the media. Did all this help to improve the team’s morale, or raise in the on field performance.  The coach is there to bind the team & keep it  focused on the ultimate target to win. Duncan Fletcher our team coach(?) reminds me the PM Manmohan Singh who appears mute faced in every circumstances & let the things happen as they are bound to happen.

Playing against Australia in Australia is not like the IPL matches where you can thrash the bowlers at any part of the ground at will. It’s a challenge, you need to plan your innings, your defense, opposition bowler’s flaws & waiting for the opportunity. Dhoni managed to do it to some extent. Such is the strength of Australian team despite  having  the new bunch they have the ability to turn the match around by keeping the pressure all the time with the committed efforts. The positive competition in the team keeps the players always alert for performing to the best of their ability. The fresh example is not far despite scoring the century & double century  in the test series and even being excellent fielder Ricky Ponting could not find his place in the playing eleven after just four failures. 

All of our players are so used to the batsman friendly pitches, even the ball one foot outside the off stump can easily be dispatched to the fence to third man or square off  the wicket without any foot movement. In Australia or the pitch having some assistant to the fast bowler the good length ball with just hint of movement can take edge & rest in the hands of hungry slip fielder. The likes of Jadeja, Raina, Rohit Sharma regarded as future  middle order have the talent but their casual approach is causing the detrimental effect not only to/ on Team India but also to/on their career. These players need to understand that it’s their performance and temperament   not the captain’s favor that will decide the place in Team India if they are serious about their cricket.  

If any individual pretends that there place in the team is granted & his only efforts can alone win the matches for team India, this scorching series is enough for him to come down on earth & walk with the team & it’s plan. And those who are dreaming to lead team India should better think again.

It’s not as easy as scoring centuries against mediocre team, it’s “A Shiv Dhanush “ first prepare to be competent  by playing with responsibility and then dream to think about it.

Ritesh Kadam
rityakadam@rediffmail.com
Cell:-09011020015